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Celtics/Cavs an Early Season Treat

This week in Boston sports: Celtics triumph: Hand Cleveland Cavaliers their first loss in a 120-117 thriller Jayson Tatum shines: 33 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists against the Cavs Ownership meddling: Reports of Krafts seeking external QB development advice Patriots puzzles: Rookie coach Jerod Mayo’s questionable in-game decisions Communication breakdown: OC Alex Van Pelt unaware of…

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Patriots Show Signs of Competence(?!)

After losing games to the 3-6 Dolphins, the 3-7 Jets, the 2-7 Titans and the 2-8 Jaguars the Patriots finally took advantage of team in turmoil and beat the Bears in Chicago 19-3 last Sunday. If the Patriots could’ve won just two of those four games above, they’d be at .500 at 5-5 and conversation about the team might be quite different. The game in Chicago was encouraging on a number of fronts,…

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Disappointing Results

The latest matchup between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors delivered on entertainment, even if the end result was not what Celtics fans wanted. Wednesday night, in his first game against Warriors head coach Steve Kerr since the summer Olympics, Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 32 points. He didn’t force things, and didn’t engage with the revenge narrative pushed by fans and media.…

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Celtics Early Season Issues Magnified in Loss to Pacers. Huh?

In a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics were trailing by 21 with under nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. They stormed all the way back on the road in Indiana to force overtime, only to lose by three after a ridiculous performance from Pascal Siakam. It was the Celtics first loss of the season, and they nearly pulled out a win. Here’s how the Globe headlined…

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Celtics Raise Banner 18, Patriots Drama Continues

After an ignominious end to the season for the Red Sox, and a historically bad start to the season for the Patriots, Tuesday night’s Celtics season opener with the ring ceremony and banner raising couldn’t have come at a better time. It didn’t disappoint. From seeing the journey from the start with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, to seeing Al Horford get his ring, and seeing Bob Cousy, at 96,…

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Mazz: Whoops, I did it again

For someone who insists he is a firm believer in “racial and social equality”, Tony Massarotti is building quite a history of saying racist things while on the air. Massarotti has already been suspended once, back in February of 2023: Felger was broadcasting from New Orleans, when Massarotti said on-air that Felger should watch two Black people behind him. He told his co-host that they might…

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Patriots QB Change: What to Expect from Drake Maye

It was leaked early in the week that the Patriots were going to be making a change at QB, with veteran Jacoby Brissett heading to the bench following the team’s 15-10 loss at home to the struggling Miami Dolphins. Rookie Drake Maye will make his first NFL start on Sunday against an impressive Houston Texans defense. It made little sense for the news to be leaked out early in the week Mike Reiss…

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Patriots Latest Taping Scandal Raises Questions

Short version this week, available to all, as home renovations, some controversy at work, and scheduling changes have conspired against me. Teetering on Mutiny? Yesterday on the team’s Catch 22 Podcast co-host Evan Lazar made the remark that the team was “teetering on mutiny in that locker room”. The statement got noticed, and then curiously, the podcast was taken down, and was unavailable for…

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Does Bill Belichick Need To Be Accountable For How Things Ended in New England?

It was an odd segment. Mike Reiss saying that Bill Belichick needed to be accountable for his last two years in New England before he could take him seriously as an analyst. I wanted to make sure I had the context, so I went back and listened to the segment. It was even worse than I thought. It came out of a discussion from Bertrand and Zolak who were saying that because Belichick had said…

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“I kind of spoke too soon” - the Jerod Mayo Story

Earlier this month, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo made the following statement to reporters. This was not the first time something like this had happening with Mayo, and it certainly wasn’t the last. It’s become a pattern. While the first year coach definitely should be allowed a learning curve, you would think observing Bill Belichick over the last 16 years would have given Mayo some insight…

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Watering a Dead Plant; WEEI's Latest Moves

(Yes, that’s an AI-generated image of Boston sports radio) Pick a metaphor to describe WEEI’s latest moves: Polishing the brass on a sinking ship Sewing a parachute while falling Tuning a broken radio Repainting a collapsing bridge Changing the curtains in a burning house Adding washer fluid to a totaled car While The Greg Hill show gets decent ratings, (how?) the rest of the new lineup…

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Matthew Judon Trade Fallout and Patriots' Defensive Transition

Two weeks ago, I made the case that Matthew Judon, who was seeking a contract extension with the Patriots, did not have a strong bargaining position. The team agreed, shipping Judon off to the Atlanta Falcons on Wednesday in exchange for a third round pick after the team and star pass rusher could not agree on terms for a new deal. It is always disappointing to see a player of Judon’s caliber…

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At least he tried, right?

How times have changed. Apparently all it took was some free pizza and beer to the media and now they love the Patriots coach and front office. The team’s failed pursuit this week of receiver Brandon Aiyuk highlighted the new era of coverage of the team. For the previous 24 years when the Patriots missed out on a player, it was usually cynically put down to Bill Belichick being cheap and not…

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Matthew Judon Contract Situation and Performance Analysis

Matthew Judon dominated Patriots camp this week, just not with his play on the field. For the second summer in a row, the Patriots linebacker is seeking a new/reworked contract. After stating repeatedly during the offseason that he would play on his current contract, Judon changed tack, with a hold-in once the pads came on in training camp. For that first practice Judon showed up without pads…

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Pats Strike Camp, New NBA Media Deals

The Patriots opened training camp this week, and for the first time this century, Bill Belichick was not the coach. That’s still hard for me to believe and accept, but it is what it is. The entire offseason has been pretty surreal, but it has gone pretty much how I expected it to go back in February. Despite drafting a potential franchise QB at #3, there still seems to be a lack of buzz around…

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Andrew PerlOff-Base: A Masterclass in Missing the Point

This week Andrew Perloff wrote a column for Athlon Sports calling Bill Belichick a hypocrite for accepting his new media gigs. Perloff is so off-base, he’s clearly just trying to stir things up in the weeks before training camp begins. It reads more like an airing of grievances. Belichick’s press conference persona ≠ his analyst potential. Perloff seems to think that because Belichick often gave…

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Derrick White: A Perfect Fit for Team USA

The Celtics Continue Living Rent-Free in Opposing Fan Bases Heads It was announced this week that Kawhi Leonard would be withdrawing from the U.S. Olympic team. Speculation began on who would be chosen to replace him – Jalen Brunson? Kyrie Irving? Mikal Bridges? Tyrese Maxey? Jaylen Brown? Austin Reaves? It was then pretty quickly announced that it would be Derrick White who would be replacing…